Sloths are commonly thought to be slow, lazy and sleepy. These traits are humorous and perhaps even deeply appealing for exhausted parents juggling work, household responsibilities and raising busy little kids. For kids who want to learn a little more, share these fun sloth facts that make these animals so unique.
Evolution, Habitat, Behavior, and Diet of Sloths
Sure, they move slowly, but there is so much more to learn about the life of sloths. They are mysterious, misunderstood animals that have been studied extensively. Reading stories about sloths seems perfectly fitting when its time to coax little ones into a nice, deep slumber. They will especially love snuggling up with a soft plush sloth as they settle in to listen to stories and learn all about their favorite animal. In the meantime, here is some fascinating information to share with kids about where sloths live, how they act, what they eat, and more.
The truth is that the happy expression is not a reflection of their true state all the time. If sloths are experiencing stress, pain or anxiety, their expression never changes. The coloration and bone structure of their faces makes it look like they are always smiling, often leading people to approach these creatures who prefer to be left alone. Human contact induces great discomfort despite a facial expression that conveys a contrary emotion.
In fact, they can move through water three times faster than they can run. Sloths' long claws interfere with walking and running, but they are advantageous when swimming. Even more interesting, sloths can hold their breath up to forty minutes. These animals have two additional neck vertebrae than every other mammal, which allows them to easily turn their heads while positioning their noses above the water.
They have a multi-component stomach that supports the breakdown of cellulose, a cellular component of their plant-based diet. Scientists have discovered it can take 30 days for sloths to digest a single leaf. The sloths' slow metabolic rate is why they are so sluggish. In the course of an entire day, sloths will not cover more than half a length of a football field.
They come down occasionally to mate, find more food, or poop (which they do only once a week!)
They roamed the earth, albeit slowly, by foot and pulled down tree branches for food.
This makes it difficult for them to nibble leaves into small enough bits to chew up and swallow. The animals instead use their extremely firm lips to repeatedly smack the leaves so they eventually break down into little chunks.
Giant sloths, unlike the the smaller versions that swing from the trees, used to roam the earth much like dinosaurs. The enormous size of their digestive system allowed them to swallow avocado seeds whole. They consumed avocados in large quantities and then spread the seeds, fully intact, wherever they roamed.
Scientists and wildlife experts have not been able to accurately determine the age of adult sloths. Also, these creatures have never been successfully tracked from birth until death in their natural habitat to assess their average lifespan. The oldest sloth living in captivity has reached 50 years of age, but these mammals likely live longer in a the wild.
These funny creatures can easily fall 100 feet without a single bump, bruise, or broken bone. In fact, it is suggested that sloths fall on average about once a week. When two male sloths are fighting over a female for mating purposes, each tries to push the other from the tree. Fortunately, they rebound and quickly climb back up high into branches without suffering.
In order to conserve energy, sloths have lost the ability to control fluctuations in their body temperature. As a result, they can experience swings of up to 10 degrees celsius in core body temperature every single day. If outside temperatures drop, microbes in the sloths' stomachs die and they can no longer digest leaves. So, in essence, sloths can die of starvation even when their bellies are full.
Kids will find it interesting to know that sloths only relieve themselves about once a week, but when they do, it is quite the production. The output weighs about one third of their total body weight every time sloths do the deed. It's a good thing they don't drop these bombs from the trees or creatures below suffer some pretty stinky blows. Rather, sloths dig a hole at the base of a tree and poop into it.
Although they have significantly less muscle mass than other mammals, sloths are easily three times stronger than humans. Newborns can hoist themselves over a tree branch with just one arm. They have unique tendons in both their hands and feets that allow them to hang for hours, even when sleeping. This strength is also what protects them from predators. Not even jaguars are able to loosen a sloth's strong grip on a tree branch.
If your family is up for an adventure, there are many places to watch sloths swing from the trees, although it's more likely you will find them sleeping! Here is a list of some good spots to visit in Costa Rica: La Fortuna, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Bijagua Ranas, and Rincon De La Vieja. You can also find these mammals in these spots of Peru: Tambopata National Reserve and Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
Extra vertebrae in their backs allow sloths to rotate their heads just enough to get a 360 degree view of the world around them. In doing so, sloths can detect the presence of potential predators without ever moving their bodies. This extra vertebrae is part of the anatomical evolution of a sloth, allowing it to survive while expending the smallest amount of energy possible. The additional bone structure also provide more support for the animal's head, which is especially important since they are always hanging upside down.
A two-toed sloth named Jan passed away in August, 2024 after living in the Krefeld Zoo in Germany for 38 years. Born in the wild in 1969, Jan originally lived in a Hamburg zoo before transferring to his permanent home. Even more remarkable than his age is the fact that Jan produced 22 pups with two different mothers. His final offspring, a girl, was born just a few months before Jan died.
